Magic
Magic, occasionally referred to as "the higher mysteries" is a powerful but little understood force in the world. In Westeros it is believed, particularly by the Maesters of the Citadel, that magic, if it ever existed, is now gone from the world. Only one in every hundred Maesters, Luwin among them, bother to study the subject long enough to earn a Valyrian steel link for their chains. In Essos, magic is still practiced, particularly in the eastern regions of the continent, but even there, its effects and the power of its practitioners are frequently questioned. It has long been believed that dragons have a strong connection to magic, and magic is said to be strongest in their presence. With the birth of Daenerys Targaryen's dragons - the first ones in more than a century - magic (at least eastern magic) seems to be slowly making its way back into the world. Charlatans have found that their tricks are becoming spells, while the power of established practitioners has begun to rapidly and greatly increase. Types of Magic and Magic-Related Abilities * Elemental control: Firemages and the red priests of R'hllor seem able to control the element of fire, being able to evoke fire with their bare hands in order to engulf their weapons in flames, to use the fire alone as a means to attack enemies, or just to amaze crowds. The wizards of the Rhoynar were able to use water magic to manipulate water, such as the river Rhoyne. It is possible that other wizards and sorcerers know ways of using other elements. ** Firemagic: ** Watermagic: ** Icemagic: ** Airmagic: ** Earthmagic: ** Graymagic: * Divination: Some people exhibit the ability to see the future either through dreams or looking in the fire in the case of the followers and priests of the Lord of Light. This is called greensight if following the way of the old gods or dragon dreams if it is done by a Targaryen. * Skinchanging: The ability to enter the mind of an animal and control its actions. It is a rare ability with only one man in a thousand being born a skinchanger. Having the blood of the First Men may make it more likely for someone to be a skinchanger. * Raising the dead: Some followers of R'hllor have been capable of performing the extraordinary feat of raising a man from the dead after performing the last kiss. However the reborn person may have difficulty remembering parts of their past life or exhibit a change in personality. The revived additionally still have any wounds incurred before their passing. * Necromancy: Some are rumored to dabble in necromancy, the ability to raise the dead as mindless automatons bound to serve a specific purpose. Necromancy is said to have been practiced by the Bloodstone Emperor, Dagon Drumm, and Morgon Banefort. * Glamoring: Some wizards and sorcerers can change their appearance or the appearance of others by using light and shadow. Some glamors are associated with specific objects. Years of practice can be needed for effective glamor use. * Bloodmagic: is said to be darkest and possibly the most powerful of magics. Practitioners of bloodmagic have dark spells to save a man from death, though some say death is cleaner. * Alchemy: a diverse range of practices involving the creation of substances or materials with magical powers. The Alchemists' Guild in Westeros specializes in this, claiming that in the past they were able to transmute base metals into gold, along with other powers. In recent centuries their power has waned, and they focus on creating the incendiary substance known as Wildfire, which burns much hotter than pitch and cannot be extinguished by water. They claim that wildfire's power is magical in nature, though the exact ingredients are a closely guarded secret. Most surviving books about alchemy have been distorted by amateur practitioners, and study of them rarely yields practical results. It has been something of a fad for absent-minded, bookish lords to "dabble" in alchemy research (such as King Aenys I Targaryen), usually archiving no more than parlor tricks.